Going into Game 4, the Golden State Warriors boast of a 15-0 run in the playoffs and will most likely make 16-0, again at the expense of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Then the NBA Finals 2017 will mark the beginning of a new era - a Warriors dynasty ruled by Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry.
If Game 3 was of any indication, it showed that the Cavs are unable to stop the GSW juggernaut, and mainly because of the dynamic duo of Durant and Curry plus the support coming from teammates that got used to winning and now unwilling to lose. The Warriors that bungled a 3-1 lead in 2016 and served the Larry O'Brien Trophy on a silver platter to the Cavaliers are no more.
Cleveland's Kyrie Irving has admitted they are dealing with an entirely different squad. "They are definitely a different team than they were last year ... Going down the stretch, they're a lot more poised, and when you have pieces like they have, they're able to stretch the floor and give space to a great iso player at the top of the key and make big-time shots," Irving was reported by Yahoo! Sports as saying.
And the Cavs' heart and Soul, King James was in agreement. "It's probably the most firepower I've played (against) in my career," LeBron said.
That came from the same now now tasked to rewrite history and lead the Cavaliers to overcome a 3-0 deficit, a scenario that the NBA has yet to see. James can prove that he can make the impossible possible but he made clear that what matters at the moment is winning one game at a time.
"My only motivation is to be able to compete for a championship every single year," James told Yahoo! in a separate report, and so far he has proven he's right in seven occasions. The last seven NBA Finals, including the ongoing series, King James has been a prominent figure, winning three titles - two with the Miami Heat and once with the Cavs.
A fourth NBA ring is unlikely to happen this year, and James brushed off suggestions that his legacy will be dented by a Cavaliers loss as that would mean five NBA Finals setbacks for him. "I'm not in the 'prove people wrong, silence critics' department no more. I got a promotion when I got to the 30s," James declared.
To be sure, winning especially when against the Warriors starring KD and Steph might prove hard to come by. Yahoo said the GSW is clearly on a roll and will likely win at least four more NBA titles. The team is young as both Durant and Curry are under 30, and they enjoy the support of a crew that has the assurance of nearly unlimited wins and the likelihood of tasting more championships.
Asked if he was entertaining the idea of playing ball other than the Warriors, Klay Thompson told Yahoo: "Winning is so much fun."
In the next few years, the same report predicted the Warriors will take home more Larry O'Briens not just because of the current GSW lineup. There will be an unlimited supply of NBA superstars that will want to sign up with the Warriors and perhaps even take pay cuts just to be part of an emerging dynasty that was last seen in the 1950s - when the Boston Celtics was the only NBA team that mattered.
